Tino Sehgal talks to Ben Luke about his unique work, which transforms the space in which it is shown through the power of movement and sound. Sehgal, who is based in Berlin, moved to art from dance after studying choreography alongside economics. His latest show, at Blenheim Palace, commissioned by the Blenheim Art Foundation, features his work from the last 20 years staged amid the Baroque palace and its gardens. It features interpreters or participants who enact "constructed situations" ranging from group work, where they sing in unison or move in formation, veering from slow controlled movement to dance or even game-playing, to more intimate pieces involving individuals or duos—but always directly engaging the viewer as a participant. Sehgal discusses the structures that underpin his work, making art that exists only in the moment or memory rather than as an object or through documentation, and why he sees it more in the tradition of sculpture and installation than performance art. He reflects on his early encounters with the art of Joseph Beuys and Yves Klein, his interest in the work of Antoine Watteau, the powerful effect of the works of radical theatre director Christoph Schlingensief and choreographer Felix Ruckert, how he regularly returns to William Forsythe's work In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, and his response to the Belgian producers Soulwax and their 2manydjs project. And he responds to the questions we ask all our guests, including the ultimate question: what is art for? This episode is sponsored by ARTIKA.
Links for this episode:
Tino Sehgal at Blenheim Art Foundation
Tino Sehgal at Globart Art Academy, Melk Abbey
Joseph Beuys’s 7000 Oaks in Kassel
Jean-Antoine Watteau’s paintings in the Louvre
Xavier Le Roy, Product of Circumstances and context at tate.org.uk
Felix Ruckert and a performance of Hautnah (1995)
Excerpt from In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated by William Forsythe from its original performance in 1987, featuring Fanny Gaïda and Sylvie Guillem, Opéra National de Paris
John Maynard Keynes, Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren
John Kenneth Galbreath’s The Affluent Society
2manydjs: Soulwax’s official YouTube channel
Ode to Joy, Friedrich Schiller poem
The Robots on Kraftwerk’s YouTube channel
Sock It to Me on Missy Elliot’s YouTube channel
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